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Joanna Killian, Head of Local Government at KPMG comments:“The most ambitious councils understand that increasing investment in infrastructure is key to driving economic growth and productivity. However, devolution is not just about creating economic growth, but it can also be a catalyst to delivering local services more effectively.

“It was encouraging to hear the Chancellor devolve further powers to Greater Manchester in the areas of fire services, a new land commission and further involvement in children’s services and employment programmes and hopefully this will serve as a blueprint for devolution in other English regions. Taking a twin approach to devolution, by creating an income supply side and a cost demand side, local communities are able to become sustainable and self-sufficient going forward.

“The stage has been set for devolution in English cities, so efforts must now be made to translate this progress to a county-level. How the Government manages its county deal with Cornwall will set a precedent for future localisation, with the scope of devolvement and the speed of implementation being the make-or-break factors.”

KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, operates from 22 offices across the UK with approximately 12,000 partners and staff. The UK firm recorded a turnover of £1.9 billion in the year ended September 2014. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. It operates in 155 countries and has 162,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such.

This article represents the views of the author only, and does not necessarily represent the views or professional advice of KPMG in the UK.